Where are the available workers?

In February 2017, there was a national average of 4.1 jobseekers for every notified vacancy. The demand for new staff remains at high levels. The number of jobs available throughout the economy and the number of advertised vacancies are significantly higher than last year. In western Germany, the number of notified vacancies compared to the previous year was up by 10.3 % to 540 830, and in eastern Germany up by 8.1 % to 131 770.

The ratio of available labour to registered vacancies was particularly high in the following occupational categories:

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

Phototechnology and photography

Building technology

Cleaning

Specialist trade in books, art, antiques and music

Company management and board of directors

Linguistics and literature

Humanities

Business sciences

Public relations

Arts and crafts, and visual arts

Theatre, film and television production

Semi-skilled occupations in the fields of building construction and civil engineering, the fitting out of buildings, sales, office and secretarial work, personal hygiene, education, and household management.

Where are the available jobs?

The number of registered vacancies in February 2017 is 674 661. Year on year, this represents an increase of 9.9 %. 91 % of the registered vacancies are to be filled immediately.

In February 2017, the largest numbers of jobs were advertised in the following sectors:

Human health and social work activities

Other economic services

Wholesale and retail trade; maintenance and repair of motor vehicles

Currently, according to the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, there is no overall skills shortage in Germany. There are, however, bottlenecks in some technical sectors and specific health and care professions. Compared with the previous analysis, the skills situation in administration has become less acute, whereas a shortage of skilled labour in civil engineering has arisen. Shortages of skilled workers and specialists mean that bottlenecks in some areas are more clearly visible than in previous analyses.

At present there are more vacancies than qualified unemployed persons throughout Germany in the following areas:

Short overview of the labour market:

Short overview of the labour market

With 81 million inhabitants, Germany has the fourth-largest national economy and industrial base in the world. Well over 90 % of all German companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for two-thirds of all jobs and more than half of Germany’s economic output. In 2015, Germany was the world's third largest trading nation, behind the United States and China.

Overall, the labour market has continued to develop positively in Germany. Unemployment increased in February compared with August 2016, but fell compared with the same month the previous year. Demand for labour, in terms of employment and notified vacancies, remains high.

Number of unemployed persons in February 2017: 2,762,095

Unemployment rate in February 2017: 6.3 %

Year-on-year change: -0.3 %

As at December 2016, according to figures from the Federal Employment Agency, employment in jobs subject to social security deductions had increased in West and East Germany compared with the same month in the previous year:

Number of people in jobs subject to social security deductions: 31.88 million

Year-on-year change: +735 000 / +2.4 %

In December 2016, 23.14 million, or 73 %, of the total of 31.88 million people in jobs subject to social security deductions worked full-time, while 8.74 million, or 27 %, worked part-time. The number of jobs subject to social security deductions is growing across all federal states, with the strongest growth rate (+4.4 %) being again recorded in Berlin.

In the year-on-year comparison between sectors, the predominant picture was of growth across the board. The clearest increases in employment in December 2016 were in the sectors:

Residential care and social work activities (+4.6 %)

Temporary employment agency activities (+4.6 %)

A small contraction in employment was seen in the following sectors:

Provision of financial and insurance services -1.0 %

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries -0.4 %.

The biggest companies in Germany in 2016 include, as in previous years, the vehicle manufacturers Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG, and the energy company Eon.